Definition
At its most general level of conceptualization, job satisfaction is simply how content an individual is with his or her job. At the more specific levels of conceptualization used by academic researchers and human resources professionals, job satisfaction has varying definitions. Affective job satisfaction is usually defined as a unidimensional subjective construct representing an overall emotional feeling individuals have about their job as a whole. Hence, affective job satisfaction for individuals reflects the degree of pleasure or happiness their job in general induces. Cognitive job satisfaction is usually defined as being a more objective and logical evaluation of various facets of a job. As such, cognitive job satisfaction can be unidimensional if it comprises evaluation of just one aspect of a job, such as pay or maternity leave, or multidimensional if two or more facets of a job are simultaneously evaluated. Cognitive job satisfaction does not assess the degree of pleasure or happiness that arises from specific job facets, but rather gauges the extent to which those job facets are judged by the job holder to be satisfactory in comparison with objectives they themselves set or with other jobs. While cognitive job satisfaction might help to bring about affective job satisfaction, the two constructs are distinct, not necessarily directly related, and have different antecedents and consequences.
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